iament, after having shown obedience to her in so many ways, to
prove to her that the peace of her soul lay near their hearts, and to
take this burden from her. But the conception of the crown and its
property had in England already ceased to be so merely personal. The
most universally intelligible motive in the whole church-movement was
the feeling, that the resources of the nation ought to be devoted to
national purposes, and every one felt that the diminution of the royal
revenues would have to be made up by Parliamentary grants. In addition
to this, it appeared to be only the first step to such an universal
restitution, as Pope Paul IV clearly contemplated and directed. Was
there not much more to be said for the recovery of the church revenues
from private hands than for their withdrawal from the crown which used
them for public purposes?--A member of the Lower House wished to
answer the Queen at once after her address: but, as he was not the
Speaker, he was not allowed to do so.

When the proposal came under discussion in the Lower House, it met
with lively opposition. A commission was then appointed, to which the
Upper House sent two earls, two barons, and two bishops, and to which
some lawyers were added; by these the proposed articles were revised
and then laid before them again. The decisive sitting was on the 3rd
December 1555. The doors were closed: no stranger was allowed to enter
nor any member to leave the House. After they had sat in hot debate
from early morning till three in the afternoon--just one of those
debates, of which we have to regret that no detailed account has
survived--the proposal was, it is true, accepted, but against such a
large minority as was hitherto unheard of in the English Parliament,
120 votes to 183. Queen and cardinal regarded it as a great victory,
for they had carried their view: but the tone of the country was still
against them. However strong the stress which the cardinal laid on the
statement that the concession of the crown was not to react in any way
on private men's ownership of church property, the apprehension was
nevertheless universal,[175] that with the Queen's zeal for the
monasteries, and a consistent carrying out of the Pope's principles,
things would yet come to this. But the interests which would be thus
injured were very widespread. It was calculated that there were 40,000
families which in one way or another owned part of the church
property: they would neit